German trade surplus surges to new record in 2016

BERLIN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Germany’s trade surplus hit a new record in 2016 despite a drop in exports narrowing the monthly measure for Europe’s largest economy in December, data showed on Thursday.

Germany’s trade surplus for 2016 as a whole rose to a new record of 252.9 billion euros ($270.05 billion), surpassing the previous high of 244.3 billion euros from the prior year, the Federal Statistics Office said.

In December, seasonally adjusted exports fell by 3.3 percent on the month while imports were unchanged. Economists polled by Reuters had expected exports to fall by 1.1 percent and imports to decline by 1.0 percent.

In December, the trade surplus narrowed to 18.4 billion euros from 21.8 billion in the previous month.